The Secret History

Richard Papen had never been to New England before his nineteenth year. Then he arrived at Hampeden College and quickly became seduced by the sweet, dark rhythms of campus life, in particular by an elite group of five students, Greek scholars, worldly, self-assured, and at first glance, highly unapproachable. Yet as Richard was accepted and drawn into their inner circle, he learned a terrifying secret that bound them to one another, a secret about an incident in the woods in the dead of night where an ancient rite was brough to brutal life and lead to a gruesome death. And that was just the beginning.

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Donna Tartt's debut novel is hailed as modern masterpiece. This work of literary fiction may not be suitable for some, though. The story follows a group of young aesthetes studying classical Greek in a small New Hampshire college in the 90's. Their social bond consists of feelings of superiority over their peers, Greek literature, and wild romps in the country that lead to tragedy. None of the main characters are likable, but their story is compelling. Languidly paced, beautifully written. Lovers of language rejoice! This is a book for you. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller, I wouldn't recommend this one.

Contrary to many others, I didn't find this book ponderous in the least. Instead, I enjoyed the realistic pace at which events steadily unfolded in retrograde and through recollection, and was completely glued to it. Richard as narrator is our counterpart as the reader: passive at first - more of a voyeur to the group whose relationships with each other and their professor cannot be known prior to our introduction - but soon enough a confidante in the circle left wrestling with what's been revealed. My rating was knocked down a bit because I was disappointed that Julian remains distant for the most part, like we can't really know him (although this does figure in later). I want to know about the students' experience with him up to that point and how his teaching set everything in motion. I just wanted MORE backstory and to know their relationships with the ancient Greek literature and culture that made up the core of their study... To speak to the connection between this work and The Goldfinch, I see it in Richard and Theo, in that they are kind of sophists moving in their adopted worlds; for Richard it is that of his well-off friends, and for Theo it is the world in general following the traumatic event that defined his life from that point.

I admit I could not stop turning pages and read this book in about 2 days, staying up until 2 AM both times. And, it's kinda a joke, I had to stop and laugh at a lot of parts just because of how absurd these snobby children's sense of superiority is. It's a bit sensational... The characters, suspense, and slow indirect plot revelations are really well done.

I gave her a high rating because this woman writes better than anyone else I can think of, but the book will not appeal to everyone. It is a story about unusual, amoral characters who exist in an amoral setting and who eventually do evil things. I didn't find any of the characters appealing and kept wondering throughout whether Tartt spent a year in research before she started writing, or whether she is just a strange Geek. I googled her and discovered she is the latter.

A dark, twisting story about murder, Greco-Roman classicism, and boarding school, this story is elevated to a sum greater than its parts by Donna Tartt's impeccable writing. None of the characters here are especially likable, but Tartt writes them so brilliantly you'll be instantly drawn in by them anyway.

First I loved this book, then I hated it, then I loved it again. And now a week after I finished it, I can’t stop thinking about it. Stories about preppy college students with self-induced problems are my jam, for some reason. I am having such a hard time finding similar books to appease my withdrawal. I might just read this one all over again.

Summary

actually they're studying ancient Greek, and their social bond is a sense of superiority over the other students as well as local working-class people, and they do horrible things over the course of 1 school year, told from point of view of an incoming freshman who pretends to be rich like them because he admires their inhumane snobbery and is bored and ashamed of his own background.

Six college friends become more closely connected through their secluded study of Latin, but all they believed to be true about one another and their intentions crumbles when a series of unpredictable events spirals out of control.